Guilty
by Lizabeth S. Tucker
Summary: Peter's research has him blaming another for Tony's death. Part of my After 'Verse series. Each story is a one-shot.


Reunited with his aunt after she reappeared at the hospital she had been working at when the original Snap had happened, Peter discovered their apartment was occupied by new tenants. Happy Hogan had been very supportive, finding the Parkers a new apartment in Peter's beloved Queens.

"Tony had all your belongings packed up and stored, so don't worry about that," Happy told May.

"Oh, thank him for…" she faltered, remembering the man was gone when she saw the stricken look on her nephew's face. "That was very thoughtful of him."

"I'll arrange for everything to be delivered to the new apartment when it is ready. In the meantime, you and the kid will be staying at a guest cabin on the Stark property."

"We can't intrude on Mrs. Stark," she protested.

"It won't be intruding. Your place won't be ready for another two weeks, so you have to stay somewhere. Plus, I think she could use the company of another woman, someone who understands."

May considered what Happy had awkwardly said. "If Mrs. Stark truly won't mind."

"Trust me, she won't."

Once at the cabin, May and Pepper had immediately hit it off. May helped with the planning of Tony's memorial service and babysat Morgan whenever Pepper needed a moment alone or had to deal with reporters.

Peter tried to stay out of everyone's way. He was still struggling after the final battle with Thanos. His heart shattered by the death of his mentor and father-figure Tony Stark, Peter threw himself into learning what had happened over the last five years, his focus on searching the internet for news, memes, and who the various heroes were who had been present at the Compound grounds.

Unfortunately, he learned more than he expected when researching not only common knowledge found on Wikipedia and news reports, but deep in the SHIELD files that had been released by Natasha Romanov so many years ago. What he learned caused a flame of pure fury to ignite inside him. He fought to keep it hidden from May, not wanting her to worry.

His efforts were successful until after the memorial service was over. Pepper Potts-Stark had organized a casual buffet for the attendees. Peter had kept to the edges of the group, watching as people mingled and shared stories of Tony.

"How are you doing, Pete?"

"Mr. Colonel Rhodes."

"Rhodey, remember?"

Peter shrugged. "Rhodey. Sorry, old habits."

"You look steamed. What's wrong? Other than the obvious." Tony's first and closest friend laid his hand on Peter's shoulder, squeezing gently in support.

"Just…do you know her?" Peter nodded his head toward Carol Danvers, standing across the room and seemingly deep in conversation with Nick Fury.

"Danvers? Calls herself Captain Marvel. Have you met her yet?"

Peter sneered. "Once. On the battlefield. I thought she was a hero."

Rhodes turned to face the teenager. "And you don't now?"

"Not after discovering that she is essentially immortal. I gave her the Gauntlet, Rhodey. She should've been the one to do the Snap. She would've survived!"

"Danvers had the Gauntlet?"

"Yes, sir. She's responsible for Mr. Stark's death!"

Rhodey took a deep breath, realizing that Peter hadn't seen much of what happened after he passed off the Gauntlet to Danvers. "I don't particularly like her. I definitely don't trust her. But, Peter, Thanos and Danvers fought over control of the Gauntlet and the stones. He managed to knock her clear across the battlefield. Before Danvers could've done anything more, Tony got his hands on the stones and snapped his fingers. I promise you, kiddo, if I thought for one moment she was responsible for Tony's death, she wouldn't be here."

Tears slowly appeared on Peter's face, his chin wobbling. "I miss him so much, Colonel Rhodey!"

Rhodey took the boy into his arms. "I know, Pete, I know. So do I."

"Is everything okay?" Pepper's soft voice came from behind them.

"It will be," Rhodey replied, keeping to himself his own thoughts as to why Danvers hadn't snapped her fingers the moment the Gauntlet was in her possession.

~ October 2019


End file.
